Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
Encyclopedia
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter is a painting by the Dutch
painter Johannes Vermeer
. Part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam since 1885, it was the first Vermeer acquired by the museum.
While the contents of the letter are not depicted, the composition of the painting has been mined for clues. The map of the Netherlands
on the wall behind the woman has been interpreted as suggesting that the letter she reads was written by a traveling husband. Alternatively, the box of pearls barely visible on the table before the woman might suggest a lover, as pearls are a sometime symbol of vanity.
The painting is unique among Vermeer's interiors in that no fragment of corner, wall or ceiling can be seen.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
. Part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam since 1885, it was the first Vermeer acquired by the museum.
Composition
The central element of the painting is a woman in blue standing in front of a window (not depicted) reading a letter. The woman appears to be pregnant, but this is not determined: although not universally accepted, many have argued that she appears so only because of the fashion of the day.While the contents of the letter are not depicted, the composition of the painting has been mined for clues. The map of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on the wall behind the woman has been interpreted as suggesting that the letter she reads was written by a traveling husband. Alternatively, the box of pearls barely visible on the table before the woman might suggest a lover, as pearls are a sometime symbol of vanity.
The painting is unique among Vermeer's interiors in that no fragment of corner, wall or ceiling can be seen.